Ydstur
Ydstur is a Skull Priestess, part of an order of liches dating from the early days of Okoto. History Beginnings Her origins are rather murky. Many tales claim that she was a member of an order of mages from before the rise of the Okotan people. She was said to have been one of their top machinists, studying and analyzing the technologies of other civilizations. Centuries ago, a group of Skull Creatures attacked a fellow mage's city, driving out his people and claiming it for themselves. Outraged, this wizard- Fulgor - led an assault to reclaim the city. Ydster was a part of this group, using her knowledge in machinery to infiltrate the settlement. As payment for her services, Fulgor gave her some of his people's technology for her to study and reverse engineer. It was there that she came across some star charts, each showing the positions of the stars during different time periods. With these were various legends often associated with the stars and constellations, such as one regarding six warriors. Among these were also tales of a civilization whose technology surpassed all other machinery on the island. Intrigued by the legends, she began visiting his home-city and delving deeper into their respective lore. She also discovered the remains of an observatory and some tablets, containing information on certain stars. When two city-states brought their war to the footsteps of the mage headquarters and destroyed it, Ydster used her knowledge on their machinery to disable some of their weapons of war. This provided the survivors with a gap to slip through the conflict and escape the carnage. Fulgor called upon her services once again, this time in forging a device that would disable all of the warring factions' weaponry. She succeeded in this, and it forced the two states to cease fighting and call for a truce. Decades later, she and some of her associates came across a cavern of mutated Skull Creatures. fascinated by this discovery, the group ventured into the bottom of the tunnel-network and found an unusual entity at the end of the trail. Noticing how it mutated its "worshipers", the group decided to study the being. To further analyze it, they began abducting living beings for it to transform. Their unethical actions were discovered by the coalition of mages, and the they were arrested and brought to the council for sentencing. Rather than face prison, however, the group fought back with new-found powers acquired from their research. They succeeded in slaying most of the organization, with the survivors going into hiding. The circle returned to their studies, and eventually used the knowledge gain from it to transform themselves. Thus the "Skull Priests" were born. Skull Priesthood For a time, the Skull Priests continued their experiments with the entity. However, as time when on, they grew tired of seeing the same results over and over again. Eventually, they decided to split apart and pursue their own agendas. Ydstur's studies have gleaned some information regarding the "Clockwork Kingdom" she had been researching, and she believed that she had pinpointed the location of the settlement. However, when she arrived at the destination, she instead found the remains of a massive machine. Further inspection revealed that it once housed living beings, and was capable of transporting them as well. At was a this point that she realized that the city of clockwork was in fact a mobile fortress, consisting of smaller fragments or "Districts". Using the technology found within the fallen district, she attempted to build her own mobile base. However, she lacked the resources to create something on a "district-cell" scale, and instead settled for building an airship called the "Solarwind". Piloting the vessel, she travel across the island and chart the stars, recording their positions and revolutions. She would also scavenge any remains of the forgotten civilization, using the scrap and knowledge gained to upgrade her vessel. The ship would eventually house a massive telescope, vastly improving her ability to study the stars. Her mission, however, was interrupted by the arrival of a Okotan shaman and his followers. They somehow managed to board her airship and disable it from the inside. The group confronted her in battle, and revealed how they had been sealing away the other Skull Priests before encountering her. Realizing that she was next on their list, she teleported away from the battle and towards the safety of Frouz's castle. Shortly afterwards, the Okotans destroyed the devices holding the Solarwind in the sky, and allowed it to crash into the ocean floor. When she fled to the fortress, she found that Fulgor had also escaped from another group of Okotans. According to him, they were led by a shaman who supposedly had some connections to the mage-guild that they ended long ago. Shocked by this revelation, the three Skull Priests gathered Frouz's personal army and fortified his castle. The invaders arrived at the gates, and stormed through their troops. A great battle endured between the liches and the heroes, with their leader sacrificing his life-force to seal the undead beings away. Ydstur's sarcophagus was moved to an unknown location after that, and remains hidden to this day. Abilities and Traits Ydstur always had an interest within the stars, wondering if there were other worlds beyond her's. She always dreamed of venturing into space and discovering new lands in the black sea above, for her study and claim. To that end, she began studying whatever technology she came across, hoping to build a spacecraft that would allow her to leave the planetary body Okoto resided on. However, the closest she ever came to that dream was building an airship. Besides her desire to leave her homeworld, she also showed vast interest in the stars' roles in various legends. At one point, she believed that a crimson one she discovered housed living beings within it (though many of her collages scoffed at the idea). As a Skull Priestess, she has access to a number of different magical powers. She can use many manners of psychokinesis, such as levitation, telekinesis, and telepathy. She also has some skill in necromancy, and access to the Elements of Plasma and Gravity. Mask and Tools Ydstur possessed a staff, through which she channeled her powers. She also wore the Mask of Biomechanics, which allowed her to manipulate machinery and mechanical implants within living beings. Appearances * TBW... Trivia * There has been debate on the possibility of a romantic relationship existing between her and Fulgor at some point. This is supported by the fact that his staff and the Priestess share the same title; Sun-Eater. Category:Generation 2 Category:Plasma Category:Gravity Category:Skull Creatures